Tonight the Bristol Knights square off in the first of a home and home series vs the Rival’s Indians. Tonight (THU 5/16) the action starts at 6pm at Sage Park in Berlin, and tomorrow (FRI 5/17) at 6pm at Bristol Eastern High School. The Indians, always a tough opponent, will challenge the newly revamped Bristol Knights. MTL League president Chris Barsa leads mostly the same team as the 2013 version of the Indians that came inches short of being league champions in 2012. The Bristol Knights, led as always by Scott Dickens (player-manager, founder) look to have a much better season than 2012, when they had somewhat of a morning hangover type of season after winning the 2011 MTL Championship.

This year, the Knights lost some key players, but gained a bunch of solid new and younger guys to replace them. The Knights will be without longtime veterans, player-coach Paul Franceschi and fantastic 2B Chris Taylor, along with 5 other regular players from the 2013 squad (Ernie Meza – OF, Ron Pezullo – Util, Matt Doyle – P/1B, Drew Yukelson – OF, and Ryan Palumbo – IF). In their place, the Knights bring aboard 6 new players, and 1 returning veteran who didn’t play in 2012. New players are:

Julio Ortiz Rivera – Outstanding, Fast, and Agressive OF, who also looks to be a strong pitcher for the Knights. Julio played college ball at the University of Puerto Rico – Ponce before moving to CT in recent years. Here’s a video of him in college: LINK

Brian LaRochelle – A Connecticut baseball veteran and all around solid player, who’ll play infield for us and also catch… and will be a very nice new bat in the lineup. Brian interestingly actually coached Knights veteran Rex Cone for a season in college as he was a grad assistant at Springfield.

Glenn Hyatt – A fellow ESPN employee with manager Scott Dickens, Glenn played college ball at Emerson and looks to be a strong contributer in the Outfield and on the mound.

Lucas Palma – a former local player at St. Paul’s in Bristol, where he played for coach Pat Holden, himself a former Bristol Knight. Luke will be a strong pitcher for us with his deceptive sidearm/almost submarine delivery and should get some solid innings in the field at 1B too. Lucas currently plays college ball at Rivier College.

Michael Scanlon – also a former local player at St. Paul’s in Bristol, where he played for coach Pat Holden, and he ALSO currently plays college ball at Rivier College. Mike was a solid corner infielder, and he should continue to do that for the Knights. His bat should be a solid addition to our team. Mike also caught a lot in high school, so he adds another option to catch games for the Knights.

Walter Klimczak – Walter… also a former local player at St. Paul’s in Bristol, where he played for coach Pat Holden. Walter is currently in college, and looking forward to getting back into competitive baseball with the Knights. Walter was a very fast and rangey outfielder for St. Pauls, and may also play some infield. He also should be a strong candidate to find his way on base many different ways.

So… a big thanks to coach Pat Holden in referring his former players to us.

The Knights will also be returning a very strong core of players including (in order of years of service, including 2013):
Scott Dickens – DH, manager – 11years
Ed Dickman – C/1B/P – 11 years
Lucas Nickerson – P/IF, coach – 10 years
Kyle Faust – P/IF – 9 years
Rex Cone – OF/DH/1B/P – 6 years
Shawn Ferguson – SS – 6 years
Jay Gilbert – IF – 5 years
Earl Oakes – 1B/3B/P – 5 years
Rick Barrett – IF/P – 4 years
Erik Michael – Util – 4 years
Justin Kilker – OF – 3 years
Phil Dauria – MI/OF – 3 years
Rick Blais – P/OF – 2 years
Drew Gallagher – C/DH – 2 years

We still have 1 maybe 2 roster spots undecided, so if you are very interested in joining us, contact Scott Dickens on the contact page on this site.